Bath tap connection repair; hints please

[Chris Hogg]

The connection between the pipework and the cold tap on our bath is leaking. Only very slowly, but enough to run down the pipe and drip onto the concrete floor, where it soaks in but stays damp. It's all hidden behind panelling, so not visible, but it's making a musty smell in the bathroom.

I suspect it's just the fibre washer that's deteriorated and failed. It must have been going on for a long while, because the connection and pipe are well crusted in green verdigris gunge. I know basically what I have to do, but it's a bath; the taps are up against the wall; access is difficult, as it always is in these circumstances. At least the cold tap is the one on the outside, IYSWIM, so I don't have to struggle to reach past the hot tap and pipe to reach it. The tap is at mains pressure.

Any hints or tips to make it a bit less of a struggle? No, I'm not going to move the bath, and I will remember to turn off the water!

[Fredxxx]

This one is fancier:

but I find more difficult to use.

[David Lang]

Undo the back nut, lift the tap, then undo the connector - cheap basin/bath wrench. You can usually replace the washer through the tap hole.

[Roger Mills]

How much of the supply pipe is accessible? Can you cut out a section of pipe, and replace it with a flexible? If so, cut off the pipe close to the tap. You can then use a socket spanner to undo the fitting. Clean up the end of the tap thread with wire wool.

Cut the pipe in a suitable place to mate up with the other end of the flexible - preferably with a rotary pipe cutter to get a clean end, and definitely if using push-fit.

[PeterC]

If possible, I undo the back nut then hold the connector and turn the tap - it's a lot easier to do. On a bath it won't be possible to turn the tap (in most cases) very far, but it gives a start and, often, the nut will be turnable by hand.

[Graeme]

In message , Chris Hogg writes

Wrap self-amalgamating tape around it, and fix properly when you next change the bath.

[Capitol]

I did the flexible trick with 1M flexibles, the problem is that the bore of the flexibles is severely reduced and bath filling takes longer. I actually had the flexibles made up to my spec to maximise the bore, but it is still a bit unsatisfactory compared to all copper.

[Roger Mills]

In the OP's case it's the cold feed at mains pressure - so a short (maybe 12") flexible won't cause too much restriction. It's probably a

15mm pipe feeding a 3/4" tap - and a flexible such as will have a bore of at least 15mm. [May require a reducer at the point where the pipe connects to the flexible. Or you can get one which terminates in 15mm, but the bore will be smaller.]

[Chris Hogg]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I had thought of using a short flexible connection, but the space is constricted and the pipe is heavily crudded and I might not be able to get it clean very easily. But I do like Peter C's suggestion of unscrewing the backnut, then turning the tap while holding the connector and then popping the new washer down through the tap-hole in the bath as TMH suggests. All very simple (famous last words?). If that fails, I'll consider a flexible connection.

[PeterC]

"If the drill won't turn, rotate the wall!"

My arms are long enough to hold the wrench under a sink and also grab the tap. Trouble is, the wrench, typically, wants to be anywhere except on the nut, so turning it usually leads to having to reposition it. Holding the wrench still foils its little plan - and saves skin, blood etc.

[Andrew Gabriel]

When buying, they are available with different bore sizes from a good supplier, and yes it is usually worth getting the wide bore ones for baths.